The animal was euthanized and a subsequent examination showed its digestive tract was blocked with two pieces of plastic sheeting, said Clay George, wildlife biologist with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.

The nearly 11-foot long whale, a male, also tested positive for morbillivirus, a pathogen responsible for an unusually high number of dolphin deaths on the East Coast this year. More tests of the whale’s tissues will help determine whether the virus contributed to its death.

“So at this point we don’t know if it stranded because of the gastric impaction, disease, or both,” George said. “We know very little about pygmy sperm whale life history, so we have no idea where this whale may have been in the days or weeks prior to stranding, or if other pygmy sperm whales are being affected.”

More than 900 dolphin strandings have been documented from New York to South Carolina, and the morbillivirus was recently documented in Florida. While the virus hasn’t been documented yet this year in dolphins in Georgia, it probably will be soon.

“Dolphins have tested positive in Florida and South Carolina, so we presume it has likely arrived in Georgia already,” he said. “We’re not seeing any increase in strandings currently, so if it’s here, it doesn’t appear to be having a great impact yet. We presume strandings will begin to increase as we go into winter as coastal dolphins begin migrating south from the mid-Atlantic states. If this happens, we will be collecting tissues for testing and will hopefully learn more.”

The morbillivirus previously struck the East Coast in 1987-1988, affecting more than 740 bottlenose dolphins from New Jersey to Florida, according to the NOAA Fisheries.

George noted that pygmy sperm whales stranded in other states this year have been tested for the virus but he was not aware of the results of those tests.

Considered rare, pygmy sperm whales are toothed whales that grow to 11.5 feet long and weigh up to 1,000 pounds. They eat squid and octopus; crustaceans such as crabs and shrimp; and fish.

The euthanized whale was found with squid beaks, fish bones, and crustacean shells, along with the plastic in its stomach. Like the squid they prey on, pygmy sperm whales can eject a thick, dark reddish-brown liquid when they feel threatened or when trying to evade predators. In the case of whales however, the amount is copious, up to 13 quarts.

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